


electric hearts

by mouthbites



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Canon Compliant, Gen, Trainee Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 15:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10744809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mouthbites/pseuds/mouthbites
Summary: hansol meets the new sm rookies.





	electric hearts

_november, 2013_

 

it's a regular wednesday morning and hansol is making his way down the dark staircase to the basement level dance studios, cap pulled down over his messy hair and backpack heavy with mandarin textbooks. youngho yawns audibly behind him, his shoes making flapping sounds on the steps. they stayed late last night, and hansol still feels the familiar, dull stiffness in his muscles from when he woke up. he likes it in a way - the testament of hard work - but he'll have to stretch before they get started with the first session.

"they're alive! they're alive!" ten teases when they push through the door. he has already started warming up with a couple of other trainees. youngho mutters a reply in english that hansol doesn't bother trying to decipher. he stands at the side of the room, facing the mirror; combs his bangs back, kicks his legs a little. already his muscles have started tingling expectantly. the adrenaline will wake him up soon enough. 

hansol has just started loosening his tendons when one of the managers pokes his head through the door. he acknowledges the dutiful calls of "good morning" with a half smile and a nod, and then points in the direction of hansol's corner. 

"you three," he says, beckoning them with his hand.

hansol, youngho and ten look at each other. ten points a questioning finger between the three of them.

manager-hyung nods. "come."

 

 

in the elevator, youngho nudges hansol's side. the four of them are squeezed in, hansol's back against the wall. manager-hyung is facing the doors, whistling to himself. 

_what's this about?_ youngho mouths at him. hansol just shrugs. he doesn't know more than youngho does. they rarely visit the higher levels of the building, and nobody told him anything about a meeting. if they had he would have worn something other than saggy sweats and a washed out t-shirt. he folds his arms over his chest, wishing he had at least thought to throw on his hoodie before they left. 

youngho clears his throat quietly, and manager-hyung turns his head in his direction.

"are we in trouble?" youngho asks carefully.

"ah, no no." manager-hyung waves his hand, turning back to the display over the doors counting the floors. "it's just a briefing."

ten makes a weird face of confusion, eyes wide and mouth stretched. hansol kicks youngho's foot when he snorts.

 

 

they're shown into one of the small conference rooms at the end of the hall, and when hansol walks in after the others he finds that there's already three guys sitting at the far side of the table. they look to be in their late teens, all handsome, with styled hair and pale, smooth skin. hansol hasn't seen them around the building or at auditions before. are they new trainees? transfers?

manager-hyung motions for them to sit down at the empty side of the table, himself taking a seat at the end. nobody says anything, and hansol peeks at the new faces as much as he deems polite. ten is smiling brightly next to him, but the strangers take little notice of them. their faces lacking expression, lips set in small smiles, eyes slightly unfocused, like seeing without paying attention. still, hansol thinks to himself, the more he looks at them, there's something strangely familiar about their faces. the look of an eye, the shape of a nose, the curve of a lip. where has he seen them before?

he's startled out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening, and a man in a posh suit walks in - again someone hansol hasn't seen before, but with the definite air of business and authority about him. he greets them and introduces himself, and from his fancy title hansol deduces he's one of the company officials. a _higher-up_.

the man wastes no more pleasantries on lowly trainees, getting straight to the point - only, hansol notes distantly, addressing hansol's side of the table. for a minute it's mostly business mumbo jumbo, and hansol notices how ten's eyes glaze over, in contrast with his polite nodding. then come words that make ten blink, and hansol sit up a little straighter in his seat.

"i've sure you've heard the rumors. there's been a few leaks, inevitably, but we've managed to keep the issue under control. it's well hidden under shell corporations, but one of the main components of the neo culture technology project is the experimental humanosynthesization department. it employs some of the best researchers and engineers in the country, handpicked from top universities and technological facilities."

the suit flicks the clicker, and some graphs and numbers slide by on the projector screen behind him. all the while, the three newcomers keep staring straight ahead, faces pleasantly blank, all seemingly uninterested in the information presented. the one opposite of hansol appears to be studying some point beyond hansol's head. it feels a little bit like being x-rayed. hansol suppresses a shiver.

"of course, this has been in the works for decades. we've collaborated with the government and the military as well as other prominent corporations. there's been some major progress in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence in the last couple of years, and we've finally reached a stage where we're confident in presenting our prototypes and testing them in action."

hansol and youngho exchange a glance. then hansol looks at the three faces across the table again. the cogwheels are working in his head, trying to make sense of these random pieces of information. trainees never get involved in the business side of things, so why are they telling them this? robotics? the military? hansol is dancer. what does this have to do with him?

it's too vague, too far removed for him to really register it, but a creeping, intuitive hunch is lurking somewhere in the backmost regions of his brain. six eyes look back in his general direction with calm detachment. 

"these are your new teammates," the suit continues, making a gesture towards the new guys but still looking only at hansol, youngho and ten. "you will all be introduced as 'smrookies' next month, as planned, and in due time you will debut together. from now on, they will function as and be treated as regular trainees. except for the fact that they're..." he trails off, adjusting the knot of his tie. "well, they're robots."

hansol blinks; once, twice. 

youngho makes a strange noise next to him, like a mix between a cough and a hiccup. "i'm--i'm sorry, what?"

the man looks at him patiently. "they're androids. synthetic humanoids equipped with artificial intelligence." a lopsided grin comes over his face, looking quite out-of-place there. "made out of plastic and metal."

hansol doesn't know it, but his face has frozen in a cartoonish frown. beside him, ten's eyes have grown to the size of saucers. youngho is gaping.

"like i said, this project is still at an experimental stage. updates and improvements will be scheduled and performed regularly. this is high quality, cutting-edge technology we're talking about, and these are our most successful prototypes, so we're confident things will run smoothly. but - i'm sure you understand - we're not ready to release this information to the public. confidentiality clauses have been added to your contracts. you’ll sign the papers later.” 

he clears his throat, and finally looks to the other side of the table. “well, boys. introduce yourselves.”

as though a magic word was spoken, or a button pushed, the strangers come alive. it's a slight change, just barely noticeable - a shift in posture, a spark in the eyes. small enough, and human enough, that hansol probably would never have picked up on it if it hadn't been perfectly simultaneous between the three of them.

the first one, with a boyish doll face and big eyes, gives a small, controlled bow and says: "nice to meet you. i’m lee taeyong.”

the second, this one looking younger, jaw wider and cheeks softer, follows right away. identical bow. “hello, i’m jung jaehyun. please take care of me.”

the last one, with a square chin and sharp eyes, bows also. “i’m nakamoto yuta. i'm looking forward to working with you.” then he adds a peace sign and a wink.

hansol stares. openly, rudely stares. it doesn’t occur to him not to. 

there is still the possibility that this is just a weird dream. that he's still sleeping. maybe he'll wake up, back in his dorm room with youngho snoring in the bunk above, with sore and stiff muscles from the night before. maybe he'll wake youngho, who will bat at him with a hand and grunt and roll over. and they'll have breakfast, and then go to practice as always, drowsily shuffle down the dark staircase to the basement level dance studios, and while hansol is stretching, maybe he'll remember this dream. he'll chuckle to himself, and then ten will ask what he's laughing at, and hansol will tell them about it, and they will all laugh. say, wow, can you imagine? and then they will dance with their fellow, perfectly human, trainees, and everything will be normal.

or.

or nothing will be normal ever again.

"their faces have been modelled after successful seniors in the industry. they're skilled in dancing as well as singing and rapping. they're capable of performing or imitating almost every human skill and body function, from conversing and displaying appropriate facial expressions to eating food and sweating at exertion. it is, after all, crucial that they pass for organic humans. we don't want any moral panic on our hands."

the suit talks for another couple of minutes, but hansol's barely listening. the sound of chairs scraping against the floor finally startles him out of his daze, and he shoots up to bow alongside the rest.

the man packs up his briefcase and brushes off the fabric of his sleeve. "you'll be working hard together from now on, so get acquainted." with that, he turns around to leave. manager-hyung is already at the door, holding it open with one of his ear-to-ear business smiles, and follows the man out. the door slides shut.

the most awkward silence in the history of mankind falls over the room.

the six of them are still standing around the table, hansol's fingers gripping the back of his chair. youngho looks like he's not sure where he is or how he ended up there. ten has crossed his arms, eyes shifting warily between each of them. their new teammates have resumed staring into the air with vacant smiles.

at last, youngho clears his throat. “so,” he croaks. “you guys, uh... like dancing?”

**Author's Note:**

> tbc maybe


End file.
